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| Some Alaskan schools are only accessible by air, boat or dog sled. (Photo by Drew Dempsey, Unsplash) |
Getting to these schools means travel by air, boat, dog sled or all-terrain vehicles, according to the University of Alaska. Some of these schools have fewer than 25 students.
“Just under half of Alaska’s rural schools are owned by the state, which is required by law to pay for construction and maintenance projects,” wrote Emily Schwing from Alaska’s KYUK in partnership with NPR and ProPublica. She said that every year Alaska’s rural schools put in more than 100 maintenance requests which are largely ignored.
Most of the students in the rural school districts are Alaska Native children. Schwing wrote that these Indigenous children suffer the greatest and are a population that has been “long forced to attend separate and unequal schools.”
Schwing reported that some Alaska Native parents sued the state in 1997. They argued that “the funding system violated Alaska’s constitution and the federal Civil Rights Act. State Superior Court Judge John Reese agreed.”
The judge wrote an order in 1999 saying, “Because of the funding system, rural schools are not getting the money they need to maintain their schools.
“Deficiencies include roofs falling in, no drinkable water, sewage backing up, and enrollment up to 187% of capacity. Some rural schools have been at the top of the priority list for a number of years, yet have received no funding.”
“Just under half of Alaska’s rural schools are owned by the state, which is required by law to pay for construction and maintenance projects,” wrote Emily Schwing from Alaska’s KYUK in partnership with NPR and ProPublica. She said that every year Alaska’s rural schools put in more than 100 maintenance requests which are largely ignored.
Most of the students in the rural school districts are Alaska Native children. Schwing wrote that these Indigenous children suffer the greatest and are a population that has been “long forced to attend separate and unequal schools.”
Schwing reported that some Alaska Native parents sued the state in 1997. They argued that “the funding system violated Alaska’s constitution and the federal Civil Rights Act. State Superior Court Judge John Reese agreed.”
The judge wrote an order in 1999 saying, “Because of the funding system, rural schools are not getting the money they need to maintain their schools.
“Deficiencies include roofs falling in, no drinkable water, sewage backing up, and enrollment up to 187% of capacity. Some rural schools have been at the top of the priority list for a number of years, yet have received no funding.”
Even though it seemed like changes might be made in 1999, the article's investigation found, “Alaska’s education department has received 1,789 funding proposals from rural school districts since 1998. But only 14% of them have received funding. This year, requests from rural school districts to the state’s construction and maintenance program stand at $478 million.”
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